Brave Little Soldier Boy
by SkyChasingDreamer
Summary: Playing one day, Gintoki gets hurt and Hijikata fights to keep him safe and take care of him. Is a prequel to Curse of the Tomato face.


**Title**: Brave Little Solider Boy

**Pairing**: GinHijiGin

**Rating**: PG

**For:** Lavi – we came up with this idea together and I'm just giving it life

**Disclaimer**: No

**Brave Little Soldier Boy**

Hijikata runs down a forest path with Gintoki right on his heels, the sun high and shining on their backs. They're out playing, have been out all morning, and by now they're both pretty filthy. It's like Gintoki's number one mission each time they go outside is to see how dirty he can get them both. Hijikata used to mind, but he doesn't anymore, it actually feels good. They've been having a blast all day and they've traveled farther from home than they usually do, but that's okay.

"I'm winning!" Hijikata calls over his shoulder.

"Not for long!"

Gintoki laughs and tries to pass him, but Hijikata bites his lip and goes after. It helps that he's a little bigger than Gintoki since he's a bit more developed, but he's hard pressed to stay in front. They jump over rocks and tree roots and when they splash into the ravine, Hijikata leaps up onto a boulder jutting out of the bank.

"Ha! I win!"

Gintoki splashes some water up at him. "This time! Next time I'll whoop you!"

"You say that every time!"

"One of these times it's gonna be true!"

Hijikata doesn't actually doubt that at all, it has been getting harder and harder to keep up with Gintoki as he eats properly and grows the way he's supposed to. Now though, he only sticks out his tongue and laughs when Gintoki splashes more water up at him. They catch their breath and Gintoki walks along through the water, a stick in his hand.

After awhile, Gintoki turns and holds his stick up. "I challenge you to a d-d-d-duel!"

Snorting, Hijikata finds a stick of his own and holds it out to touch Gintoki's. "Challenge accepted, peasant!"

"Prepare to taste defeat, tyrant!"

Their sword sticks click together, both of them only using one hand as they battle. They jab and poke, they don't really know what they're doing, but it's fun. There's a big patch of red on Gintoki's neck, they must have missed a spot when they were putting sunscreen on and it makes him look so stupid in the shade of the trees. Water sprays as they run through it, hitting and blocking, defending their lands from one another. Gintoki spins and takes them out of the water onto land where they stumble over rocks and climb the bank.

"Blocked ya!" Hijikata taunts.

"Your sinister v-cut has plagued these lands for too long!"

"At least I don't have a stupid perm!"

Gintoki gasps in play and strikes using both hands – it actually, much to Hijikata's surprise, creates enough force to drive him back. "You take that back! You only wish you had the power of the perm!"

"What power is that? The power to be obnoxious?"

"How dare!" Gintoki replies, his facade breaking as a smile creeps across his face. "I'll show – " Hijikata's foot catches against a rock, "– no! Hijikata, look out!"

Gintoki becomes a blur, his stick clatters to the ground, and Hijikata is yanked forward. The momentum carries Gintoki back and essentially, they trade places with Gintoki taking the fall instead of Hijikata. It happens so fast that Hijikata can't react at first, but he drops his stick and the silence is far too deafening. There should be noise, Gintoki is always loud, why is he suddenly so quiet?

"Gintoki!" Hijikata yells and scrambles around the side of the ledge of the bank. He falls to his knees and his mouth goes dry at the blood seeping out from Gintoki's hair and down his face. "G-Gintoki?"

He's scared, but he dares to touch and press his fingers against Gintoki's cheek. His friend's brows furrow and he moans, but he doesn't wake. This isn't good. This is the exact opposite of good. This is bad.

Frantically looking around, Hijikata calls for help, but of course no one hears him, there's no one there. It's just them and the woods, the ravine a far away noise even though they're right next to it. Hijikata pats Gintoki's cheek and grabs his hand, his voice stuck in his throat because he doesn't know what to do.

"Nnn... Hiji..."

It's a quiet sound, but Hijikata jumps on it. "H-hey... Gintoki? It's me, I'm h-here?"

Gintoki's eyes slit open, but they're unfocused and his mouth crumples. "Hurts..."

Of course it does, he's sprawled out on a bunch of rocks and his head is bleeding. Gulping, Hijikata nods, he knows Gintoki isn't really seeing him, but goddamn it, he nods anyway. He holds Gintoki's hand tighter and looks around again for help, but only the scuttle of leaves against the ground answers him.

"O-okay... okay, okay... we're soldiers," Hijikata says and brushes Gintoki's hair back, getting blood on his fingers. "We got a-attacked. C'mon, all soldiers gotta make it h-home."

He grabs Gintoki and pulls him up, trying to balance him and get him to wake up a little more. It's awkward and it's a huge struggle, but Hijikata manages to get himself underneath his friend and lift him up on his back. Gintoki's arms hand limp over his shoulders and Hijikata hikes him up higher with is arms around Gintoki's thin legs. He starts walking and even though Hijikata is the bigger of the two, he's not big enough to carry Gintoki for long and he knows it. He can already feel the extra weight taking its toll on his legs and before long he's panting, his muscles aching.

"Hijikata..."

"I'm here," Hijikata replies as he gets them out of the woods into a meadow.

Gintoki's fingers weakly close to grab a fistful of Hijikata's shirt. "Wha's happening?"

"You... you got h-hurt," Hijikata gets out, his legs are really in pain now. "You were protecting your comrade."

"I did good?"

It's hard to hear Gintoki's voice, it's so soft, but Hijikata catches it and nods. "You did real good. You did the best, you – ah!"

Hijikata's right foot catches on a hole and he trips down to a knee so hard he scrapes it. Gintoki falls forward farther onto his back and Hijikata almost buckles under the weight. A frustrated sob comes out of his mouth when he tries to stand, but can't. Gintoki is too heavy for him and they're still too far away from home, he can't make it. The realization is crippling and Hijikata's lips wobble – he refuses to look at the blood dripping down onto his shoulder.

And then he hears it, the sound of a car. He looks in the direction it comes from and in a boost of adrenaline, he holds Gintoki tighter and forces himself to his feet. Gintoki is making quiet noises, broken words, utterances of Hijikata's name, none of it really making any sense. Each step is a struggle, but Hijikata grits his teeth and gets them to the dirt road. Now, Hijikata knows not to talk to strangers, but he's so panicked that when someone sees him walking down the road with his limp friend on his back, he jumps on the chance.

It's scary and he knows he's doing something he's not supposed to, but he's terrified and he needs help. The man that stops in an old beat up truck seems kind enough and though Hijikata doesn't like him touching Gintoki, Hijikata can't get him into the car on his own. He's able to hold Gintoki to him when they're in the passenger seat and instead of going home, Hijikata tells him to take them to the nearest clinic. The man doesn't ask too many questions beyond that and when he gets them there, he helps take Gintoki inside.

Most of it is a blur to Hijikata, he's so out of it and he hates it when the clinic lady takes Gintoki away. Hijikata tries to follow, but another nurse keeps him from doing so and that's when he really begins to unravel. He struggles more, yells something about comrades needing to stay together, and realizes he's shaking when there's steady hands on his shoulders.

"Can you give me a number to call? Your home number, maybe? A cellphone?"

"N-no – I... I can't –"

"Concentrate, honey. Your number?"

In a stuttering mess, Hijikata gets out the number, and one of the nurses stays with him, but he doesn't let her touch him. He doesn't want anyone touching him and he almost violently pushes her away when she tries to look at his leg. It's a small cut, but it's bleeding and he knows he must look insane to them, irrational, but his petrified and where is Gintoki?

It isn't until Hijikata sees Tamegoro and Shouyou come in that his eyes well up with tears and he breaks out into uncontrollable sobs. He can't hold them in, though he tries. He holds his arms out and his brother scoops him up, his familiar voice the safest sound and his arms like a blanket. Shouyou disappears and Tamegoro talks Hijikata down until he's just sniffling instead of sobbing. It's easier now for the nurse to come back out and take care of his leg, which stings, but he doesn't fuss. Tamegoro sits down and holds Hijikata in his lap, calming him down and slowly pulling what happened out of him.

Finally, Shouyou comes back out carrying Gintoki in his arms and he's not moving. His arms are flung over Shouyou's shoulders, his eyes are closed, and he has a bandage wrapped around his head. Hijikata's heart is in his throat and he can't move, this is his fault. It'd been an accident, but Hijikata feels wholly responsible and Gintoki should never be this quiet and this motionless, it's unnatural.

Gintoki's eyes open a little and the second he spots Hijikata, he starts to wriggle. Shouyou is trying to fill out some paperwork and talk to the nurse, but when Gintoki keeps wriggling, he stops. He follows Gintoki's gaze and with a small smile, Shouyou sets him down, keeping a hand on Gintoki's back to make sure he's steady enough to be on his feet. With a look of utmost concentration, Gintoki totters over to Hijikata as fast as he can and, with a little help from Tamegoro, crawls right into his lap and into Hijikata.

Hijikata can't help himself, once he has Gintoki in his arms, he starts crying again. It's relief this time and he hates feeling so weak, but he'd just been so helpless before and for Gintoki to actually be _okay_... yeah, he can't stop the tears. Gintoki grabs onto him and holds him and Hijikata cries into his shoulder, their two warm little bodies having taken over Tamegoro's lap and his chest is something firm for them both to lean against.

"N-never do that again, b-baka," Hijikata chastises in a watery voice.

Gintoki doesn't say anything, but then, he doesn't need to. As long as Hijikata can hold onto him and feel Gintoki breath and grab him back, that's all he needs.

"Do I pick one up?" Shouyou asks.

"Not unless you're prepared to pick them both up, look at them."  
"Gintoki has a minor concussion, he needs to stay awake."

"How minor is minor?"

"Minor enough for them to be reluctant to term it as a concussion."

"Well, we'll keep him awake, but I need to be able to stand first."

"They're so cute, it feels rude to move them."

"Yoshida, stop hovering! I need my lap! Pick one up and the other will follow!"

"Bossy, bossy, bossy!"

There's a good humor in Shouyou's voice and Hijikata knows things are okay now, but he still makes an unhappy noise when Gintoki gets picked up. His red eyes are hazy and his head falls right onto Shouyou's shoulder, but there's more color in his face now, so Hijikata takes that as a good thing. He jumps out of Tamegoro's lap and runs after them, taking Shouyou's hand when it's offered to him. He's tempted to reach up and grab Gintoki's foot, but squeezes the hand holding his instead.

It's his brother's car that's in the parking lot, so Hijikata opens the door for Shouyou and gets in after him, pressing in next to Gintoki in his lap. Tamegoro drives and the sound of the two talking is nice in its familiarity. What helps, too, is that Gintoki's holding his hand and Shouyou is rubbing both their backs. There's dried blood on their clothes and seeing it on Gintoki makes his eyes water again, but the tears don't fall. He swallows against the lump in his throat and when they get to Shouyou's house, it's a relief to be able to wash up and change.

They have to be separate for part of this and Hijikata isn't alright with it, but he sucks it up and deals with it. He has clothes stashed away at Gintoki's and he pulls some of them out after his quick bath. Gintoki takes longer than him and when he comes out with Shouyou just behind him – Gintoki's not walking well, his legs are unsteady – he comes right to Hijikata.

"Here," he shoves a small button into Hijikata's hand, "a purple heart."

Hijikata takes it and stares down at where it sits in his palm, but he has to lean in and whisper, "What's a purple heart?"

"I dunno... but it sounded important on TV," Gintoki whispers back.

That's good enough for Hijikata and he nods, clutching the thing to his chest. He reaches out with his other arm and wraps it around Gintoki's neck to pull him into a hug. He rests his head on Gintoki's shoulder and ends up wrapping both his arms around him. Gintoki grabs onto him in return and Hijikata's eyes start to water again, but this time he fights the tears back. Gintoki's body is so small compared to his and to think he'd been even smaller when they'd first met, he feels so fragile.

"You're a good soldier," Gintoki says quietly and Hijikata's eyes really do water at that one. He takes in a shaky breath and they fall to their butts without letting go of each other. Gintoki pulls back and takes both of Hijikata's cheeks between his hands, his eyes large and more alert. "S-something's wrong! Leaking! Your eyes are l-leaking!"

"S-shuddap," Hijikata replies and Gintoki pats his cheeks.

Hijikata slowly leans forward until Gintoki's arms go around his shoulders and he can shove his face into his friend's neck. It's good for them to just sit there like that, rocking slightly, and Hijikata's tears eventually dry. Hijikata can see the splotch of sunburn on Gintoki's neck and he noses at it, breathing out of his mouth because his nose is clogged up. He's exhausted, but it's safe here and Gintoki is safe and everything is going to be okay.

Sometime later, Hijikata doesn't know how long, Shouyou comes over and sits with them. "Gintoki? How are you feeling?"

Gintoki groans, it's such a small noise. "Sleepy."

"You've done so well, you don't have to stay up any longer."

"Okay..."

Shouyou tries to pick Gintoki up, but he holds onto Hijikata tighter and doesn't let himself be lifted.

"Here," Tamegoro says and lifts Hijikata up before transferring him to Shouyou so the two don't have to let go of one another.

Gintoki makes a satisfied noise and burrows into Hijikata with a quiet yawn. Hijikata's own eyelids have begun to droop and he doesn't remember the walk to Gintoki's room, he just recalls natural perm hairs tickling his nose. They get set down in bed and covered up and he vaguely thinks someone kissed his brow, but that could have been a dream. He tightens his fingers, still holding the little button, and falls asleep against Gintoki's warm body, both soldiers home safely.

**THE END**


End file.
